Jane Friedman has a long history of publishing incredibly useful information for indie authors. And now she has added an extremely helpful compendium of AI law information. In the form of FAQs, it addresses many of the cases and points of law raised by them that will be of interest to writers. From questions of the disclosure of the use of AI to licensing rights, claims of fair use, and whether you can copyright AI-generated material, this is a handy summary of many of the topics you might want to know about.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
Social Media's Evolving Landscape
Social media is changing. We all know it from our experience of what used to feel like a virtual coffee shop where we could laze on a comfy sofa with our friends: something that can now feel like sitting in an airport lounge being bombarded by announcements at best.
Two stories this week confirm just how far we have come and continue to cast a shadow on what many of us in the creative world still think of as a helpful shop window (even if the days of making tens of thousands as an indie author from Facebook ads seem long gone).
First is a legal ruling in the US, where a woman was awarded $3 million against Meta and YouTube after claiming they had knowingly created addictive platforms, addiction to which damaged her mental health as a teenager. She had previously settled with Snap and TikTok before coming to court. There will be an appeal, but this is another sign of a decidedly turning tide. And with BookTok such a powerful driver of teenage reading, it's one that really does matter for the literary world.
UK Tests Social Media Restrictions
Demonstrating further that social media and the teenage mind is of course a huge hot-button topic right now, here in the UK it looks as though we are taking steps to be the next country to think seriously about social media bans for teenagers. A trial of three hundred teenagers is taking place to monitor the effects of various social media restrictions: from curfews to time limits to outright bans. It comes as a consultation is taking place nationally. I hope the creative industries are considering how they might respond.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
If you’re an ALLi member, head over to the SelfPubConnect forum for support from our experienced community of indie authors, advisors, and our own ALLi team. Simply create an account (if you haven’t already) to request to join the forum and get going.
Non-members looking for more information can search our extensive archive of blog posts and podcast episodes packed with tips and advice at ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice Center.
